Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka yesterday, told a special bench comprising Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan that being the single largest party the BJP was the "mandate of people" of the state who have thrown out the Congress.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yeddyurappa, told the bench that there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JDS and they have formed an "unholy alliance" after the elections.

The apex court is hearing a petition moved by the Congress-JDS combine challenging the governor's decision to invite the BJP to form government.

"The single largest party (BJP) is the mandate of people of Karnataka who have thown out the ruling party. The ruling party has much less members than us. There was no pre-poll alliance. It (Congress-JD(S)) is an unholy alliance," Rohatgi said.

At the outset, the bench asked the Attorney General K K Venugopal, "Have you brought those letters (sent to the Governor by Yeddyurappa)?"

Venugopal told the bench that Yeddyurappa was being represented by Rohatgi, who placed the letters before the bench.

The bench directed Rohatgi to give the copies of the letters to the counsel appearing for Congress-JD(S) combine.

Rohatgi, while reading out then operative part of the May 16 letter sent by Yeddyurappa to the Governor, said the BJP leader had said in the letter that the party has emerged as the single largest party in the state and they were wiling to form the government.

He also referred to the May 16 letter written by Yeddyurappa and said that the BJP leader had requested the governor to invite the party to form government and had also said that they would provide a "stable government" and they have the "support of others".

The hearing is currently underway.

In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court had yesterday cleared the last-minute hurdle created by the Congress-JD(S) combine for the BJP's ambitious surge in southern India by paving the way for Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

A specially constituted three-judge bench after more than three hours of hearing, had made it clear that it was not interfering with the Governor's decision to invite the saffron party to form government in the state in which BJP with 104 seats has emerged as the single largest party.

During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 AM to 5.28 AM, the top court had made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case.

The court had directed the Centre to place before it two communications sent by Yeddyurappa to the Governor in which he had staked claim to form government, saying their perusal was necessary to decide the case.